Anthropology as a discipline came to Egypt around 1900, as foreign anthropologists reported home on the culture they found. As Egyptians took the lead in anthropology, in the 1930s, the discipline entered into the debate about the need to reform Egyptian society and culture especially in the rural areas, against a general background of functionalism. This study traces the evolution of anthropology in Egypt through the stories of its practitioners such as Blackman, Galal, Evans-Pritchard, Hocart, Abbas Ammar, Hamid Ammar, Berque, Abou Zeid, el Hamamsy, Uways, and their contemporaries, showing their challenges and accomplishments.

Nicholas S. Hopkins is emeritus professor of anthropology and former dean of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at the American University in Cairo.